What should have been a simple towed turned into an unsafe ordeal. See what happens in this episode of a Day in The Life.... www.paypal.me/RotatorRon If you like my videos.....tips appreciated but not required. www.midwesttruck.net/
We are almost there!!! Thanks for your support. Remember to like, share, and comment!! We will get there!! It's not just me...it's OUR community that we've built!!! Thanks for watching and God bless.
Love that you taught Talon how to run the controls. And really appreciate your kindness to strangers. You always remind us that others are just as important as we are. Bless your heart.
When approaching a site like this with my tractor-trailer I always try and get over. If I am unable to, then I slow down and put my four ways on and give short blasts on the horn to warn the Personnel working on the side of the road I am unable to get over. I hope that's appreciated, because as you know that's just about all you can do.
I always do the same. I slow way down in comparison to everyone else I see. I mean down to 30s and that's still fast I admit. But I always hit my hazard lights and nail the horn like a freight train, four concise blasts before reaching the scene so they know I'm coming and cannot move over from them.
You put out as many lights as you want. An extra light or two, and a few extra minutes compared lost life is nothing. Keep doing what you're doing. Be Safe, Jay
Sadly some idiots think that Time = Money is the be all and end all and not only encourage unsafe work practices, but often require them. I dont have time for people like that myself.
The reason why people slowed down and moved over more was that since it was nighttime they couldn't tell if it was a cop or a tow-truck so they didn't risk it. Most people don't give a rats a** about tow trucks because they cant give people tickets. Its truly sad and I respect what you do every day to help others in need.
Ron, you should NEVER apologize for safety. I'm retired after 44 years in the class 8 trucking industry, finishing up as a Terminal Manager. However, for the first 17 years, I was a heavy-duty mechanic, and spent countless hours out on the side of the road with breakdowns. The majority of the public have absolutely no idea how fast traffic is moving past you, or how much suction is involved from vortexes when they're going past at highway speeds. You have to do everything you can, and take every precaution you can, to keep safe when out there!! Love these videos, BTW -- great job, brother!!
Safety must always come first. You can replace equipment but you can not replace a life. The more lights the better. Here in Alaska we are allowed to close lanes if necessary for safety. In this case I would have closed a lane. Here if someone does not move over and you can get a liscense plate # they can be fined a minimum of $500 for interfereing with an emergency vehicle. Once again safety comes first above all else. Stay safe and God bless.
Great idea with the flashing flashlights next to the cone. And those electric road flares are fantastic. Your way is the only way, on your job site. All your people return home safe and sound to their families every time. So your doing something right.
Hi Mr. Ron. You towed me back in 2001 or 2, can't recall the date but It was a pleasure being towed by you. By far the safest tow I ever had. I was driving for a national fright relocation specialist company, we had the blue trucks.
Todd Behrends they work great, speaking from personal experience (I have a 6 pack in blue, and now a 3 pack of amber batons too, because the flares were so effective)
You and your crew do a Fantastic job Ron! I don't think some folks are aware fully of the "danger-factor" of your job...contending with large, heavy, often unstable objects, and the then added factor of moving vehicles driven by folks not paying attention. I commend your attention to safety....I retired from 26 years working in a state prison, and our goal was/is the same as yours.."Get myself, and everyone else home safely" God Bless Ron!
lol I think the truck lost his sneakers.. or in this case.. work boots. Ron, I agree with you about the safety part of your job. You can NEVER have enough lights, especially at night. :) My philosophy is "light 'er up" and let the rest of the world eat cake. You showed great consideration for fellow motorists by not turning on the working lights while backing up, and you took it nice and slow. This was a difficult recovery, and you two pulled it off with Beast Jr. and a rollback. :) Keep safe and God bless. Glad to hear that no tow truck driver was harmed in their job today.
at around 28:39 text pops up saying the other driver was ok. Ron had gotten a text indicating a tow driver was hit while operating at the side of the road. Later he found the report was incorrect.
Ron, don't you ever put safety below any priority. You have one of the most dangerous and tedious jobs there is, and you do it with the passion, drive, and selflessness rarely found in others. The respect that you show, yourself, your employees, friends, other drivers, people you have never met, and most importantly (my opinion), the dangers presented to you by your occupation are outstanding and masterfully handled. I have been watching you recover vehicles for the past two years or so, and I have to say, a day rarely goes by that I do not think of the lives put at risk every day around the world, and those that were lost because someone wasn't paying attention. Ron, I hope you never face the 'what if' question after an incident. Always take the extra step and the extra minute to put out a road flare, cone, drag the 5/8" chain instead of the 1/2" if you need it, and take care of your guys. Don't be lazy in your old age that is fast approaching because, for most people, that is what we do. Keep up the excellent work, and I can't wait for your next video. As my scoutmaster said years ago: "Always be prepared for the worst and hope for the best."
Amazing how you think outside the box to get the job done. Amazing how far Tallon has come from the first videos. So glad to hear that the other report of the driver being hit was wrong. May you and all your staff have a guardian angel looking over them at all times. Positive thoughts to all of you and your boys.
I like how Ron makes the best of things even when there's been a minor error. He's there with the rollback, so he uses the truck to block and has an extra person to help. I don't even tow, but I learn a lot from Ron.
Outstanding video Ron, you use whatever safety measures you need to stay safe and don't let anyone tell you different. Stay safe and God bless you and your workers for all the hard work you do in helping to keep American highways safe.
Ron, that traffic reminds me of the traffic here at home. After watching your videos for a couple of years, this tow appears to be the most dangerous one to date. God bless and protect Ya'll
If I knew anything about towing I'd wanna work for you. Safety is my main priority when operating my rig and seeing you take it as seriously as you do is inspiration.
Congrats Ron your less than 700 till you reach 100,000 subscribers and you have done it with the most amount of respect and decency and kindness and may God bless you with this achievement before this Easter Sunday
Anyone that criticizes your highway safety protocol has never worked a highway scene. I'd take a fully involved structure fire any day over a highway call!!!
I'd imagine red & blues would get a "fair" portion of people to move over; those that are aware of the laws & maybe actually have a soul in them and care about not wanting to risk harming other people. However - your arrow sign... When someone sees that, they don't know what the reason is for why they should get over. For all they know, there might be a giant steel block in the right lane. So, even if you have someone that doesn't care about other people - they will likely care about themselves, their vehicle. So they'll probably get over just to be safe. That being said, my sphincter has been clenched almost this entire video.
Ron, I saw something interesting on the highway today that I thought might be useful to you. You know those big portable orange signs that construction workers put out along the side of the road that say something like "Road Work Ahead"? Well today I saw a towing unit with a pinkish purple sign like that which said "EMERGENCY TRUCK REPAIR", and it was placed right up against the travel lane (not In the travel lane) so you absolutely had to notice it. I thought that might be useful to you when you have to tow semis and the semi is blocking most of your rotators emergency lighting from being seen by oncoming traffic. Edit: I forgot to mention that the sign was placed probably a couple hundred feet rear of the semi, to give ample warning obviously.
A problem like that makes a good reminder to pay attention to those wheel lugs. They are entirely too easy to overlook during a pre-trip. Look for shiny around them, or streaks, that could indicate that the rims are moving on the hub. In my younger days, I kept hearing a rumble-thump in what I was driving. I checked wheel bearings, tires, driveline. One morning while on the way to the rail yard for work, it finally revealed itself, when my left steer tire exited from the vehicle and went bouncing off into the woods on a road with roller coaster hills. Lost two nuts, and the rim pulled through the other three. Cost me a rim, a grease zerk on the lower ball joint, a tow, and at least 8 hours of work. And a pair of underwear. And it put me under obligation to look for another vehicle, because I'd told people that I intended to drive that one until the wheels came off... I fixed it and drove it some more, but I did eventually get myself a backup vehicle.
You know Ron, I think one reason why they moved over is that you made it look big with all those flares. I personally noticed that one issue is the lack of visibility and the apparence of "nothing there". All those flairs made it look like it was something very serious, and made it very visible. I would bet that with no flares they wouln't have moved.
Ron Safety is KEY!! I think you need to spend the time and a few dollars for safety. All the Equiment can be replace. However you and your employees are more important. Everyone want to come home there families.
Hello Mr. Ron I'm Joseph and I've been recovery business since 2000 and I know some of your videos go back a few years but I have learned many new things I didn't know I could do to improve my business and safety of my personnel thanks to you I have been achieving my goals
Ron I like that you take the extra steps it great to see a company that takes safety of its staff. You are doing the right thing of creating the safe work zones. I have friends who work in the industry and there are times that I would go out on the calls with them in my vehicle that carried cones and electro flares as well as an arrow stick. To keep them safe as well if it was a Personal Injury Accident I am an Volunteer EMT, so I would start treatment till the local EMS arrived. You are right you do lose too many tow operators out there. Keep up the great work.
I used to work (retired) for the FDOT and one of my pet peeves was drivers who wouldn't move over, some would even open their doors and try to clip my safety cones and other MOT.
So what if it's 1am? Ron's just posted a video. Bed can wait! I've just read that about 60 tow truck operators are killed whilst working at the side of the road each year in the US. That doesn't include any of the myriad of injuries. That's a shocking statistic. I'm glad the report was in error, but it sure is something to think about, and I bet it focuses your mind. That was a bit of a job for you both. I'm always impressed by how well you and Talon work together. It's almost like you can read each others mind, you're so in sync - a well oiled machine. I think, after reading that report on deaths in your industry, that we should *all* say a wee prayer to God to watch over all the tow truck crews around the world, doing what is clearly a dangerous job. If praying isn't your thing, just keep them in your thoughts. God bless to you and yours, from Scotland.
We had a tow truck driver killed on the side of the Southern Freeway, here in New South Wales, Australia last year. He was rescuing a young woman that had broken down on the side of the freeway when he was hit from behind and killed. It turned out that the hard shoulder did not comply with state government design criteria, but they still let people drive on it anyway!.
Hey Ron sense I have been watching your videos and even before if I see anybody especially emergency personal on the side of the road I try and move over to the next lane but sometimes it's hard to do that when you have someone in the lane next to you but if I can I most certainly will move over for safety of the people who are working to clean up the broken down car you have inspired me to think more about the safety of people on the side of the roads and for that I wanna say thank you.
Donald Romine I drive a semi that is 75' nose to tail. As you can imagine in heavy traffic it can be nearly impossible to move over. I've had my blinker going for 3/4 of a mile before and no one would let me over. Many truck drivers fail to do what I do but in that situation I will hug the left of my lane and slow to a crawl. I'll be dammed if I'm going to run someone over if they come walking out around the vehicle or trip and fall into the lane.
Donald Romine: Out here in the country almost all roads are two lane. So a breakdown or emergency will usually block one lane. That pretty much always means stop and wait to creep around in the clear lane. Virtually all the folks out here are good about that. With the light traffic here, it is no burden to wait a minute or two in order to keep others safe. So much better than city or freeway traffic........
what would happen if you set one of the cones over the new led flashers, might be worth a try, it would be new so they might just slow down to see what it is..... just thinking ..... Or maybe a banner that read "" NAIL STRIPS IN USE MOVE OVER"
I think that the safety measures you take are definitely not overdone. Thank you for always showing the way things should be done. Stay safe and God bless.
Very risky on the interstate. You sure have the equipment,all the toys so to speak, but very necessary for safety. I almost forgot, where were the state troopers???keep up the good work & God bless ...
Many years ago, when they was talking about making the law for the move over... Everyone but the professionals (and even then) was against. Until a journalist went with the police that was pro move over. They were on the highway. Police do his 'bullshit' of 'it's dangerous' and bla bla bla... fricking princess... Your job is dangerous! You signed for it! The police goes on and "look how close they pass beside us, one step and I get hit" and soon after... The cameraman shout WATCHOUT. The police just got time to jerk a bit forward and he got a massive butt slap from the car mirror, which actually broke off. That car of course did not stopped. The timing was almost perfect. The police succeded to say "That's what I was talking about" and made a sign to cut. Has the cameraman 'done his job right' (they ain't supposed to talk afterall, he basically scrapped the scene) the police would have been hit and seriously injuried or killed. He actually had to get stitches on his butt and couln't sit for many days. Since that day, the media opinion and most of the population changed for the move over. If it was not of that unscripted demo, it would possibly have never passed. Sometime life give you some weird sign by giving you a close call. On a related note... It happened to us, a close call. Life is really weird... Adults and toddlers in backyard, they ran toward the street, bus is comming... Start running, Bro happened to pass in car in the other direction, shout, toddlers freeze 1 step from the sidewalk, bus pass just beside the sidewalk to drop someone. 2 seconds. That is what saved them. Next day, we get the flyers, sale on hardware required for a fence. Next day, store visit to check the price. The store is a mess. That mess however made us discover some ideal hardwares that we did not know it existed, and made it better and actually slightly cheaper. On the way out, there is a sign for another promotion. We had a small budjet, since it was unplanned. We had 300$. With the sales and promotion and tax and all? Exactly 300.61$ No more close call since then. Heck, not even required to watch them anymore! Life is weird.
Mark Verloop sometimes state DOT will help,most DOT's have arrow board trucks that help but have limited hours,I said DOT because each state call them something different for MN it is called FIRST (Freeway Incident Response Safety Team)
Your safety is first priority everyday all day .....especially on an Interstate.. Beautifully done Ron. I've been watching you since early when you first started on youtube, i absolutely love your videos brother .. keep it up
Hey Ron. Great video as always. What I used to do with those flares is put them under the cone. This way the flashing light pattern lights up the entire cone.
Ron, I understand what you were saying about taking extra time to set up safe zones but, some agency's don't care. You are given a time limit from arrival to get anything and everything off the highway. If the officer on scene decides that you aren't going to be done by then, the next outfit on rotation is already in route to relieve you of the scene, and you are dismissed once they arrive. You get no pay, and your company is bumped down on the rotation list. So in some areas safety is a luxury, not a requirement.
I have heard about that. I understand the need for urgent clearing of a scene. What you are talking about, I believe, is crash scene where the police and fire services are there to protect the scene and provide coverage.....I could be wrong. IF that's the case, that is totally different than what I'm dealing with in this video. Here we are only towing a vehicle off the shoulder of the interstate and have to provide our own coverage. Thanks and God bless.
Actually it was in response to you saying that others were critiquing you on taking too long to do things. And no, I was referring to everyday tows and recovery's where an officer is on scene and calls in for the next available tow operator on rotation. You get into the "Hook and Book" mode on all scenes if you've ever been under that type of pressure when every second counts against you.
We get into some pressure situations here, but thankfully our local departments work with us, and other tow/recovery companies in our area, to help control the situation and make sure it is cleared safely and in a timely manner. Time is a BIG concern and I do understand the need to clear quickly. TIMS training is pretty clear. The only reason they pull a vendor off a job around here is incompetence, which could include taking too long to clear a scene. This is already a dangerous job. I just want me and my personnel to go home safely.
Dang, Ron! One cellphone talker not paying attention... Think I'll stick with lifting heavy stuff with cranes that are WAY off any highway. Great video, as usual.
After 41 years in EMS and LEO, I am glad for two things. A BIG Fire Truck to help block a scene, and a BIG Wrecker, with added lights, equipment and people who make our jobs so much easier. Safety is always first and Ron proves that in his videos. No short cuts for him or his crew.
I'd like to meet him someday, too. Just not with him coming to me on the side of the road somewhere, lol ! Of course, if I broke down, I guess that would be different. I just don't ever want to be on the needing end of a big ugly recovery from a ditch or a median.
Don't we all want to meet Ron, and possibly go out on a call with him? I've learned enough to be dangerous, if I wanted to help. Wouldn't want the man to loose his Christianity!!! So many questions, so little time!😂😂😂
Your customer asked about possible cause for wheel run off. Most common, is under/over torquing lugs(impact guns), OR OVERLOADING. As you know Ron, excessive stress on ANY contact causes fatigue/wear/tear. That's a rail service truck. Like your wreckers, you have lots of equipment, tools, etc. But, it adds weight. Weight distribution is always important, regardless if you're within limits. A balanced vehicle can make big difference when driving, towing, winching, recovery etc. Watching your previous videos, I notice you take proper maintenance and care of all your equipment, which can make everybody's job easier and SAFE! GREAT work Midwest Towing! MOVE OVER OR SLOW DOWN is law in Missouri!!! Give them room.
David Larson I got this on Amazon for $40plus tax. GOSTAR 3 Pack 16 LED Flashing Car Warning Light Rechargeable Safety Emergency Road Magnetic Base Car Boat Flare, 1 Quick Charge Car Cigarette lighter
Ron, God bless you for the job you do. People don't understand how dangerous your job is, it takes a man with nerves of steel to work the side of any road much less an interstate.
I remember that rotating lights from my fire department. Very handy little things. We used them too to secure our scenes on roads outside the city. Very useful but the box we had to charge them was a bit difficult to handle because of the wireless charging system you had the problem, if you didnt put them in right they didnt charge. Usually we put them on the ground, but i had the idea to put them on top of the cones like you did to make them better visible. We did this until we got some foldable traffic cones with a light in it who where very handy because they dont need much room in the truck and they have a light inside that lights up the complete cone. Like this: www.derfachhandel.de/bilder/produkte/gross/888.png And nice that you took care of that small oil spill there. But a idea for the binder: Put it in a bucked so you dont have to cut the bag open every time you need some. You just take the bucket, open it, take a small shovel and throw as much as you need on the oil. So you dont have the open bag in your truck after you used just a little bit like here.
Too bad that there is no such thing as what they do for railroad stuff: some explosive on the rails to warn the workers that someone is where they shouln't be. Would be nice I think to be able to set the cones and if someone hit one you hear a loud BANG instead of a quiet thump. It would give a few seconds of warning to look up and move, and also make the driver go back where he belong.
Ron, you and your guys do great work and provide a lot of insight into the towing/recovery business that many people would not get elsewhere. Hopefully I can drum up a few subs for you throughout my various Mopar and Mustang FB groups. Thanks very much for the great video content, and an early congrats on making it to the hallowed 100K mark.
I agree with you, you can never be too careful. We had a friend who owned and ran a roll off tow truck, and on southeastern AZ I-10 he was working on loading a car when a semi truck didn't get over to the fast lane, and he ran over my friend's leg, which wound up being amputated. He fought that company for years to get compensated for his injuries that he sustained.
This looked like a difficult one! I know my stress level would've been alot higher than normal on this particular job - night time, not able to front-tow, backing down the highway, truck larger than expected ... but you guys handled it like the professionals you are! Nice work! Those are some neat little LEDs there, those electronic road flares. Going to look into getting some of those for my wife, just in case, and a few for my car trailer. Never know when you're going to need them. Glad that was a false report you got there, too. We just had a guy lose his life a week or so ago up on 495 in Andover, MA. Hit by a drunk driver. Sure is a blood-boiler. Prayers needed for this man's family. Such a sad, tragic, and UNNECESSARY loss. boston.cbslocal.com/2018/03/21/dan-coady-funeral-tow-truck-procession/ May God continue to bless & protect you, and all those around you, Ron. Congrats on nearly 100k subs!! 👍
Great video as always. Glad to hear that the report of the driver was false. I’m not a tow operator, but have family in law enforcement and I get annoyed at people when they don’t slow down or pull over. Be safe out there and thanks again for all the great videos.
Ron, I think you perform a service to emergency workers by providing their perspective to your viewers. I'm surprised you receive criticism for going the extra mile for everyone's safety. Hmmm...
Love your videos Ron. And when it comes to safety, there is no such thing as too many precautions. God bless you and your drivers and have a good one sir
how can you expect the unexpected when the unexpected is unexpected, doesnt that mean if you epect the unexpected that the unexpexcted was expected. Therefor you can never expect the unexpected
@ Brody Mitchell Greetings from Scotland Talon is his son-in law . Ethan is his son. One of his early videos from "the money pit" has Ethan as a boy basically on a ride-along with his dad who was given small jobs (digging out sand moving wooden blocks etc) seem to remember a video of him as a young man driving a truck by himself (may have been someone else/a dream but IDTS) not an officianado of Ron's work but have watched a few RU-vid videos on it.
Ron, you have my respect from across the pond. You have an Israeli subscriber too. Love your professionalism, and safety. I pray that KKD driver wasn't hurt in that cosmetic incident, btw.
Ron, I completely agree about safety! I have two 8-packs of those LED magnetic road flares myself. Besides, this is YOUR show! If somebody else doesn't like it, too bad! Its YOU & YOUR people who you're looking out for and making sure go home at night and not to the hospital or morgue.
Enjoyed watching you and Talon working this call and especially great that you are giving Talon more education on the job. That's not to say I don't like the rest of your videos - I love 'em all. Best wishes and prayers for you all. God Bless!
Glad you were safe, I'd wait till daylight! Maybe even Noon :) If I ever broke down out your way I'd be thankful to have such a professional as yourself.
I remember the time when a Mobil sweeper had broken down on the side of a busy road. The tow truck driver was banging on the axle shaft with a sledgehammer to get it out, but it wouldn't budge, as I expected. The supervisor shows up, he takes a whack at it, and out it comes. I felt bad for the guy, but it happens. I think it would be a good idea to use your fast idle switch when you leave the flatbed running so you don't get any slobber out of the exhaust. Great video and God bless.
love the video, i purchased 3 of the small strobe lights and use them on my work van, i will be showing my boss them and try talking him into buying some to lay out behind our parked vehicles whilst cleaning.
I can agree 2 with your thoughts about working safety along the roads, I worked in Michigan for 25 years as a heavy duty truck Mechanic and had several close calls working along I-94 plus several other heavily. I have had drivers standing at the rear of trucks & trailers and people would still not get over. God Bless my friend, Pastor Clare Huyck
Hey Ron from New Zealand you are doing a great job there. Glad to see that the Arrows on the truck help. Here in NZ we have a truck that goes out to this sort of thing and he parks back down the road with the arrow pushing everyone into the other lane. They also put cones in the lane beside the area where you are working so basically the arrow truck is parked in the middle of the lane and the cones go down the lane and past the incident area and then gradually the cones go back into the side of the road. Believe me it slows the traffic down as they have to use just the one lane. Take care my friend God Bless and Kia Kaha (stay strong)
